Ocli Api

ocli — API specification to CLI

Call any HTTP API described by an OpenAPI, Swagger, or OpenRPC spec as CLI commands. No MCP server, no code generation, no JSON schemas in context.

When to use

• You need to call a REST API (internal, cloud, SaaS)
• You have an OpenAPI or Swagger spec (URL or local file)
• You have an OpenRPC JSON or YAML document for a JSON-RPC API
• You want minimal token overhead (1 tool, ~158 tokens/turn)

Setup (one-time)

bashCopy code
npm install -g openapi-to-cli

ocli profiles add <name> \
  --api-base-url <BASE_URL> \
  --openapi-spec <SPEC_URL_OR_PATH> \
  --api-bearer-token "$TOKEN"

ocli use <name>

For OpenRPC, use the same profile command. ocli builds one command per RPC method and wraps documented parameters in a JSON-RPC 2.0 request automatically:

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ocli profiles add rpc-api \
  --api-base-url https://api.example.com/rpc \
  --openapi-spec ./openrpc.json

ocli getWidget --widgetId widget-7

ocli serializes integer, number, and boolean values according to the method schema. Pass arrays and objects as JSON. It follows paramStructure: "by-position" by sending the documented flags as a JSON-RPC parameter array in order. Named and either methods receive a JSON object.

For OpenRPC profiles, use rpc:<method> selectors with --include-endpoints or --exclude-endpoints, for example rpc:getWidget. OpenRPC method names must be unique.

Workflow

1. Search for the right command:

   bashCopy code
   ocli commands --query "your task description" --limit 5
   

2. Check parameters of the chosen command:

   bashCopy code
   ocli <command> --help
   

3. Execute the command:

   bashCopy code
   ocli <command> --param1 value1 --param2 value2
   

4. Parse the JSON response and act on the result.

Search options

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# BM25 natural language search
ocli commands --query "upload file to storage" --limit 5

# Regex pattern search
ocli commands --regex "users.*post" --limit 10

# List all commands
ocli commands

Multiple APIs

bashCopy code
# Switch active profile
ocli use github

# Or specify per-call
ocli repos_get --profile github --owner octocat --repo Hello-World

Guardrails

• Always search before guessing a command name.
• Always check --help before calling a command you haven't used before.
• Never fabricate parameter names — use the ones from --help output.
• For OpenRPC, pass only documented RPC parameters. Do not add jsonrpc, method, or id; ocli supplies them and follows the documented parameter structure.
• If a command returns an error, read the response body before retrying.

Failure handling

• Command not found: re-search with different keywords or use --regex.
• Missing required parameter: run --help and add the missing flag.
• Unknown option: the flag is not defined by the command; copy the exact name from --help, including a leading $ when the spec uses one (--$expand).
• 401/403: check that the profile has a valid token (ocli profiles show <name>).
• Spec not loaded: run ocli profiles add again with --openapi-spec to refresh cache.